The Solo Killer
by Ericlau99
Summary: The Moonlit Black Cats were never killed by monsters in a trapped room. They were killed by Laughing Coffin. Kirito takes vengeance and kills all the members of Laughing Coffin, becoming a marked PKer in the process. Now he must complete this death game as a solo player, a beater, and a marked murderer. With the odds stacked against him, how will he survive?
1. Chapter 1

Why?

Why Me? Why did this godforsaken death game cast the worst fate on me?

No. It wasn't Sword Art Online that did this. It wasn't Akihiko Kayaba either.

It was players. People. PKers. Player Killers. Laughing Coffin.

These thoughts ran through my head as I watched the last hooded figure explode into polygons.

Keita, Tetsuo, Ducker, Sasamaru...Sachi

All the members of the Moonlit Black Cats, were dead.

It was just a month ago, five months into the game. I'd been playing solo the entire time, but then I met the Moonlit Black Cats. They were a small guild, just starting out pretty much, but they'd been friends in the real world and were close. Like family.

And Me, stupid Me, wanted to be apart of something like that. After five months of loneliness and almost constant grinding, I wanted a break. I wanted friends. Something I didn't even have in the real world.

I'd saved them all from some Mobs and they'd asked me to join them. They'd had big hopes of becoming a strong guild and thought that I could help them do it. But there was a huge level gap between us, about 23 levels higher than their leader to be exact. Players of higher levels didn't usually interact with lower levels, especially not the front liners. But I said yes to them and before I knew it, I had a little guild icon above my HP bar.

But I also lied to them. I'd told them I was a level that was twenty levels below mine. I didn't want them to kick me out.

We'd done well, I'd showed them the ropes that only the experienced players knew about so far and quickly, they all began to rise in levels. We took more quests and handled those easily, they didn't know that I'd already done all these quests. I secretly guided them on the safest paths.

We nearly had a run in with a trapped room, one we couldn't use crystals to teleport out of. But somehow we managed to survive it all in one piece. We all got so much closer after that.

Then we took a job. From real people this time. A group of players were offering col to have a guild party guide them through a dungeon and help them get a rare item.

It was a trap. How the hell didn't I see it? I had never even done this quest, I should have known it was fake.

I'd feared this day would come. Murder Guilds had formed.

It was inevitable, with PKing being allowed in the game. But why the hell hadn't we all taken more precautions against it?

The players we had been guiding had led us into a trap. The first murder guild, Laughing Coffin, was waiting for us at the end. Ten Players, all with orange cursors. They were all at least five levels higher than my guild mates, but that was still ten levels below me.

I'm one of the strongest players in the game. I'm not sure who is the strongest though. This early in the game and level gaps were still forming.

But despite how strong I am, I still failed. Despite re-equipping my strongest sword, I still failed. Despite killing the ten Laughing Coffin members, and the three green cursored bait players that led us here, I STILL FAILED!

I fought five of these bastards at once, trying to give my Guildmates time to escape. It didn't work. I saw the five of them cut down in front of me and explode into polygons.

And after that… I don't really know how I did but I killed the thirteen players by myself.

I looked up above my head. My cursor had turned orange. The sign that the player was a criminal player. It was because I killed the green players that led us here. They hadn't yet attacked me, I attacked them. And I killed them. That means this orange cursor was permanent.

A dry laugh escaped my throat. Why did it matter that my cursor was orange when the friends I'd made had just died seconds ago.

I wiped at the tears that clouded my vision. I don't even know when I started crying. I don't know how long I've been standing in this damn cavern either.

I looked down at the sword that was clenched in my hand. My whole arm was shaking I gripped it so hard. This wasn't over. I knew that there were more members in Laughing Coffin. When I first asked Argo about them, she told me they numbered at least twenty five.

I was angry. I was furious. My friends deserved retribution, deserved justice. And I needed revenge.

I knew what I had to do now.

Walking out of the cavern, I flicked my sword to the side before sheathing it on my back.

I'm going to find Laughing Coffin.

And kill them.

* * *

Like always, the information I'd gotten from Argo was spot on.

She didn't ask why I had here meet me out in the middle of a forest, she figured out the answer for herself when she saw my cursor color. Orange players weren't allowed into the cities and towns by the NPC Guards.

When I asked for the information I'd come for, she didn't even charge me. She gave it freely, something she never did. Maybe she felt sorry for me, Argo knew a lot of things she probably shouldn't and maybe she somehow heard what happened to the Moonlit Black Cats two days ago. Maybe she was scared of me and my new curso color. Who knew really what Argo was ever really thinking though.

Laughing Coffin was based on the seventeenth floor, about halfway between the City of Beginnings and the front lines who recently cleared the twenty eighth floor.

A haunted forest takes up the majority of the floor, filled with skeletons, zombies, and ghouls. But they didn't bother me in the slightest. I never even broke stride when they attacked me. One slash from my sword was more than enough to put them all down.

"Go north on floor seventeen and look for a grove with a bunch of fallen over trees." That's what Argo had told me. Didn't take me long to find it.

When they first saw me, they thought a new orange cursored recruit had sought out their guild willingly and wanted to join.

I proved that theory wrong as soon as the first one walked up to me. I cut off his head before he had time to speak.

The rest of it, again I don't remember much, just that it was a bloodbath. I don't know how many I killed, I didn't stop to count how many of them there were when I first walked into their camp. I just attacked.

I killed them all until I finally got to who must have been their leader. Argo said his name was PoH. He had a scar running down the side of his face and like the rest of his godforsaken guild, he wore a cloak. But what was really different about him was the red cursor above his head.

That's not right. Only monsters had red cursors.

Ignoring this fact, I fought him. I made sure he never touched me with his blade, Laughing Coffin was well known for their Paralysis Poison. He was the best dagger wielder I'd ever faced, but he too fell to my sword.

It was quiet in the middle of that clearing. The campfire that they'd sat around only minutes before was still roaring, meat on sticks were still sticking out of the ground cooking in the heat of the flame.

Suddenly, a message appeared in front of me.

WARNING! You are currently the player in Sword Art Online with the most amount of Player Kills. Due to this fact, you have been given a red cursor to mark you as such. You will no longer be allowed in towns and may no longer use teleport crystals or teleport gates. The only way for you to get to the next floor is for you to travel through the boss dungeon and go up the stairs found after beating a boss. If you have already beaten a the boss of that floor however, you need not face it again.

I read the message three times before I dismissed it.

No more crystals. No more towns. No more teleport gates.

The game just got seriously harder for me. I'd have to go through every boss dungeon in the game and beat every boss if I wanted to move around this world. So far I'd been apart of every boss raid except for floor 24 and the recently beaten 28th floor. Did this mean… I'd have to solo a boss? No one wants to face a boss, especially after they'd already beaten it. Which meant in order to go beyond floor 28, I'd have to face the bosses on floor 24 and 28 and I'd have to do it alone. That was suicide.

Might as well kill myself now.

A dry laugh slipped out of my mouth again as that thought ran through my head. It wasn't like it mattered anymore. My friends just died. I had no one in this world and now, no one would ever want to be around me. The only people I had on my friends list now are Klein, Agil, and Argo. And they were really only contacts, not truly friends. Everyone I have cared about in this game was dead.

I felt empty. Despite having taken vengeance for my murdered friends, there was just nothing left for me. My knees went weak and I fell to the ground. What can I do now? What was the point of going on? Especially now since the game just became near impossible for me.

Suddenly, a message appeared on my window. A gift box from… Sachi.

Images flew through my head, a petite girl with shoulder-length black hair. Shy and innocent, but also incredibly kind. She was my closest friend so far in SAO. She was the reason I was invited to join the Black Cats. They wanted me to teach her how to wield a sword well and we'd bonded a bit over it. And now she's dead. How could she have sent me a gift box when she's gone?

I recently clicked on the message and a recorder cube appeared above my hand. These were used to record messages and leave them for friends. I had no Idea that they could be set for dates even after a player had died.

Hesitantly, I clicked the play button, causing it to light up and begin the message. It was a voice I'd never thought I'd hear again.

 _Merry Christmas, Kirito._

 _By the time you hear this, I'll probably be dead._

 _How can I explain this, let's see..._

 _To tell you the truth, I never really wanted to leave the Town of Beginnings._

 _And I knew if I fought with an attitude like that, I would end up dying someday._

 _But that's not anyone's fault. That's something I have to deal with._

 _Kirito, ever since that night you found me, you kept telling me I wasn't going to die, no matter what._

 _But what if I got killed anyway? I knew that if I died, you'll blame yourself._

 _That's why I decided to record this for you._

 _By the way, I know how powerful you really are. Sorry._

 _I sort of peeked when you weren't looking._

 _I wondered why you weren't telling the truth about what level player you really were._

 _I wondered why you decided to fight with us. I never figured it out though._

 _You know what? When I found out how strong you were, I don't know, it made me so happy._

 _I so relieved._

 _So even if I die, promise me you'll go on living, okay, Kirito?_

 _Stay alive, so you can see the end of this world, and find out why it was created. Find out why a weakling like me ended up here. Find out the reason you and I met. Please._

 _That's what I wish._

 _Looks like I still have time, so..._

 _Seeing how it's Christmas and everything, I'll sing you a song._

And then she sweet sound of Sachi's voice began to hum the tune of Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. I was crying so hard by this point that I nearly missed her goodbye message.

 _Anyway, Kirito. I'm so glad that I met you, and that I could be with you... even for a little while._

 _Thank you. Goodbye._

The recorder cube slowly lost it's light and fell to the floor of the cavern, bursting into polygons when it did.

So this. This is what you want from me? Sachi? You want me to live? To beat this death game? To find the end? Even after you and the others were dead?

I clenched my fists so hard, that they were probably clenched in real life too.

...Fine.

I'll beat this game. I'll do whatever it takes!

I grabbed my sword and thrust it into the ground, using it to leverage myself up, clenching my teeth in fury as I did.

I flicked my sword to either side before sheathing it on my back.

I walked out of the clearing, no longer feeling that emptiness that I felt only moments before. I felt like I was on fire.

This rage, this would be my purpose. This would be my fuel to keep going. To clear this game.

And God help whoever stands in my way.


	2. Chapter 2

Don't own SAO

I wasn't apart of the 24th boss raid because I simply felt like I needed a break. I knew not playing a part in that would come back to bite me in the ass one day.

It took me a week and a half, climbing the seven floors between me and the 24th floor boss door had been a pain. They were all floors I'd already gone through and grinded on. I rarely slept the whole time, the fiery rage in me kept me going for most of it. It was often hard to find a good place to sleep. Normally I'd just find an inn to sleep in, but that was no longer an option for me. So I had to find a spot to camp where Mob's didn't spawn and was well hidden enough so that other players wouldn't find me.

When coming across an orange player, one either ran away from them or engaged them in a fight in the hopes of getting them to submit and send them to the jail on the first floor. Rarely did the second option happen. Only the high leveled players ever took that route. And that's what happened to orange players, imagine what they'd try to do to me if they saw my red cursor. Probably flip out.

Thanks to all the hiding I was doing, my sneak skill was getting a workout. I didn't really pay attention to that one, I usually like to face things head on instead of taking the sneaky route. But there was really no other option if I wanted to avoid confrontation with other players.

The only benefit of having to walk everywhere I went now was that I leveled more quickly. I was always grinding. Always fighting. Always on the lookout for danger. There were no more safe zones for me. No more shops I could buy healing potions at. Everything I had to survive on I had to find on my own in the field. Luckily I'd stocked up on potions before I'd received my red cursor, my Alchemy skill is non-existent. I'd have no idea where to even start to get the right ingredients to start making potions.

And food was always available out in the wild. Random drops, berry bushes, and fruit trees would provide all the food I'd need. It wouldn't taste great, my Cooking skill was about as good as my Alchemy skill, but I wouldn't go hungry. Luckily again, I'd started carrying a mini stove to cook on in my inventory.

I looked up at the tall black steel doors with a greek omega symbol set in the middle. This was the boss room I was about to solo. I remember all the information about how they beat this boss.

The Minotaur

Three meters tall, bull head and lower body but human arms and chest.

The upper body was covered in black plated armor while the lower body was left bare.

He wielded a great axe that was shaped like an omega symbol.

Three health bars, four different sword skills, one shock wave attack, and a devastating charge attack that was fast but couldn't change direction.

Oh and did I forget to mention he has two mini-minotaur soldiers that helped him fight?

The assault team won by having tanks up front block the boss and argo it, then have spearmen attack from behind the tanks with their superior reach. Meanwhile two groups of three would keep the mini-minotaurs busy and a spotter would warn everyone when the boss what about to use his shock wave and charge attack so that everyone could get out of the way.

A solid plan, one that cost them no casualties and allowed them to beat the boss in half an hour.

But I was about to do it alone. No back up. No teleport crystals. Just me and my sword taking on a boss and his two minions. A suicide attack pretty much.

I took a deep breath, "Well this is it Sachi. Either I'll be seeing you soon, or I'm moving on to floor twenty five."

I put my hand on the door and walked into the dark room.

As usual, the boss had to make a dramatic entrance. Torches suddenly sprung to life on the walls, illuminating the cave which was covered in stalactites. This dungeon floor followed the greek myth of the Minotaur perfectly. It was a cave labyrinth, full of many twists and turns, full of dead ends. Sure most dungeons are like that but this one was on a whole nother level.

The Minotaur sat on a throne, his two minions on either side of him and his eyes glowing red. He sat up and grabbed the omega shaped axe from his back, he let out a loud bellow and blew steam from his nose.

I silently watched his show, not intimidated in the slightest. In all the other boss raids, I feared dying. Here I felt nothing but that fire. I let it consume me, fuel me, fill me with it's rage.

I unsheathed my sword from my back and charged.

* * *

The twenty fifth floor sucked. That was something all the players who had been to it could agree on. It was a swamp floor and had no real town. It was more like a small market in the middle of the bog filled swamp.

But what was worst about this floor was the boss. It had been especially hard, taking out six players before it was able to be killed. We believed this floor's boss was so hard because it was a quarter of the way to the top. Kayabas own way of letting us know we've hit a milestone.

But despite how crappy this floor was, I'd never been more happy to see anything in my life.

Coming out of the doors that lead out of the 24th floor boss room, I took a breath of muggy air and watched my HP bar slowly climb it's way back up out of the red zone.

I'd done it. Solo killed a boss. Barely did it but I did. Despite my level being a fair bit higher than that of the players who originally beat this boss were at at the time, I'd barely made it out by the skin of my teeth. It was only due to a lucky crit that I'd beaten The Minotaur. But I had and the experience points had brought me up another level, leaving me at 49. The last attack bonus had also been pretty good too, a ring that significantly increases your agility.

I waited for the potions to bring me back to a stable HP before I left the safety of the door. There were never any monsters around a boss door. Afterall, it wouldn't be fair if the players got attacked right off the bat after beating a boss.

Over the next hour and a half, I made my way toward the next boss dungeon. It was slow going, the bog made walking a pain but I'd made it about three quarters of the way there before I decided to call it a night. It was getting dark out and I was exhausted.

I didn't make a fire that night, I was to tired to care about the warmth or the comfort of it's light. I just climbed up a tree and fell asleep on the thickest branch.

It only felt like I'd barely slept a minute before my detection skill woke me up, letting me know that something or someone was approaching. There's no monster spawn point around me, I made sure of that. So that means it's another player.

"Kirito, come down from there. Your hiding and sneak skills aren't good enough where you can hide from me."

I recognized the voice, it was Argo.

I sighed and jumped down, landing nimbly on my feet in front of the info broker. She was in her usual cloak and still had the face paint whiskers she'd had on her face since the beta, giving her the nickname "The Rat."

"Argo. What do you want?" I said tiredly.

She put her hands on her hips, "What do I want? I want some answers! You come to me asking for the location of Laughing Coffins' members, and a few days later I hear that they're all dead. And on the Wall of Remembrance in the City of Beginnings, the wall that lets us know who and how a player died, well it says that every known member of Laughing Coffin was killed by another player. Now I'm not saying that it was you, I'm just-"

"It was me. I killed them." I cut her off.

Her mouth snapped shut abruptly and her forehead creased into a frown, "Why?"

I chuckled dryly, "Does it matter? They were murdering other players for fun. I did SAO a service."

She glared at me, "I'm not saying you didn't. But that isn't like you! The Kirito I know doesn't kill, let alone mass kill! What did they do to you? Does it have something to do with with your cursor was orange when we last met?"

I eyed her, judging whether or not I would tell her. I'd known Argo since the beta. She was one of the other lucky 1000 that got to play SAO early. She never let me down before when I needed information, which was one of the reasons she was one of the few on my friends list. And in the time I've known her, I've come to learn she's as stubborn as they come. Fine.

"As you probably know, I joined a guild." I eyed the Moonlit Black Cats symbol that was still above my HP bar. I hadn't technically left the guild, I was it's last member. A solo-membered guild, kinda funny.

"We did a job for a couple other players, leading them through a dungeon. It was a trap set by Laughing Coffin. No one but me made it out alive. None from my guild, none from Laughing Coffin, and none of the players that lead us in there. I killed them all."

"And that's why you came to me for Laughing Coffin's location, to take revenge?" She asked, I nodded in response. "But there had to be over eighteen players from Laughing Coffin in the location that I told you. Who did you bring with you to take them on? Even you being a higher level wouldn't have helped against those numbers."

"You'd think that wouldn't you." I said with a grim smile, "I killed them all."

She looked at me wide eyed, "You…"

I nodded, "Every last one. It's how I got this." I said pointing up at my red cursor.

Argo stared at it, "What does it mean?"

"It means I've killed more players than anyone else in SAO. You're looking at the biggest mass murder in all of Aincrad."

Argo stared at me in silence and I stared right back at her. I didn't know what she'd do now. Run, condemn me, attack me… They were all valid actions.

"Does it do anything like an orange cursor does?" She asks

I looked up at my cursor banefully, "You're looking at the biggest curse and handicap in all of SAO. Along with not being allowed entry into the towns and cities, I also can't use teleport crystals or gates. The only way for me to travel between floors is through boss rooms."

Her eyes were now completely bugging out, "That- that's outrageous! It would be practically impossible for you to do anything!"

I laughed bitterly, "Yeah, and even if the boss room has already been beaten by other players, if I wasn't there at the time it was beaten, I still have to beat it in order to get through."

"So- So that means…"

"I have to be at every boss raid, and as a recognized solo, beater, PKer, in order to pass through floors."

My words seemed to hit her like stones. The complete unfairness of the situation was enough to hurt someone it didn't even effect.

"You're pretty fucked Kirito." Argo said, drawing the first real laugh out of me in weeks.

"Yeah you could say that." She glared at me for laughing about my shitty situation.

"Wait didn't you skip the boss raid on floor 24? And this is floor 25… No… you didn't!" She exclaimed finally putting the pieces together.

I scratched the back of my head, "First person to solo a floor boss." I say as a way of acknowledgment.

She stared at me for a couple seconds before beginning to hit me in the shoulder repeatedly.

"You Stupid! Reckless! Idiot!" She said with every hit, dropping my HP by miniscule amounts, "Didn't you even think of asking for help?"

I shrugged, "Who'd want to help me? I only got three people left on my friends list and you're one of them. No one would want to help the biggest PKer in the game, and no one but clearers could survive a boss fight. I don't want anyone else involved with me, they'd end up getting killed."

"What about that Asuna from the Knights of the Blood Oath? She's their second in command and one of the strongest players in the game! You two partied together in the first boss fight didn't you?"

I gave her a weird look, "I haven't spoken to her since the first boss fight and I only ever see her at other boss fights. Why in the world would she help me? We're not even friends."

This time Argo laughed, "You'd be surprised Kirito, you tend to leave an impression wherever you go. Why do you think I like you so much?" She said before blushing red, "That came out wrong. You're my friend, one of the few I have in this game."

Ok now that blindsided me, "You think of me as a friend?"

She nodded her head resolutely, "Yeah, I do."

This is new to me. I've never really been good with… well people in general. It's why I played as a solo player. Hell in real life I barely even knew my own family anymore.

I sighed, "Argo, you don't want to be my friend. Especially now that I'm the most hated player on sight, when they find out."

"Screw other people. I can get the word out about what you did and why you did it. And if they can't accept that then fuck them."

I laughed, she made it sound so simple. "Even if people do hear about what I've done and accept me for it, there's still the fact that I have killed a lot of people and no one's gonna wanna be anywhere near me. I can't go into any towns and I'm constantly in the danger zones, if there was a legendary difficulty mode in SAO, I just found it. I have to solo the 28th floor boss, hopefully before they try to take down the 29th floor boss, and then convince the assault team to still let me be apart of the boss raid so that I never have to solo a boss again. How the hell am I supposed to convince them to let me in on it?"

Argo smirked at me, "I don't know, if word gets out that you soloed a floor boss and took out Laughing Coffin on your own… They might be the ones asking you to join them."

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"I'm saying that what if you become so powerful that they'd have no choice but to bring you along. That they'd rather have you with them on the raid then not have you, despite everything you've done." The gears in Argo's head seemed to be working over drive.

"And you really think they'd go for that?" I said disbelieving.

"Oh definitely. If we sell it right. If we make it clear that Laughing Coffin attacked you and you managed to destroy them, unfortunately becoming a marked PKer in the process… Then it might just work. Hell, your red cursor condition might even wear off someday."

"Argo… for that to happen, someone else would have to kill more people than I just did. Forgive me if I hope that never has to happen."

"Shit. You're right. Bad thinking on my part, sorry." then, looking at me seriously, she said, "Kirito, I positive that I can do this. I can get you back on the frontlines."

I sighed and pinched the bridge of my nose. "You're positive you want to do this?"

She nodded.

"Even though it might amazingly backfire?"

She nodded again.

I sighed, "Fine."

She raised her eyebrows at me, "Oh? I promise to do all this for you and you don't even have the common courtesy to thank me. Chivalry really is dead."

I bit my cheek to hold back a smartass response, "Fine. Argo, thank you for your help."

She grinned at me, "No problem Kirito. But first things first, I have to go find a group of people crazy enough to take on a boss that's already been beaten and do it with a lot less people."

I snorted, "Good luck."


	3. Chapter 3

I don't own SAO

Agil was the name he'd gone by for the last few months. It wasn't his real name, just something he thought sounded cool. Something he'd thought would just be his avatar name in the new VRMMORPG that had just came out. He'd had no idea that it would be the name he'd go by for the next several months and who knows how much longer after that.

At first he'd been scared. Scared that he'd never make it out of this game alive. Scared that he'd never see his wife again. But after that thought, he was glad he was the one trapped here. He and his wife had flipped a coin to see who would get to try SAO first. He'd won and he was happy that it was him and not her.

After the first month, when they had finally found the boss room, he immediately opted up to join. He figured they needed all the help they could get in this game, and he'd never been afraid of a fight. Not that he'd ever gotten into many. With his size, no one ever seemed to want to fight him.

The first boss fight had gone well, everything according to plan. Until their raid leader decided to try and finish the boss of himself. Biggest mistake the man ever made. And it was, unfortunately, his last.

Everything went downhill then. There was no order to their raid anymore, he'd thought for sure they'd lose more players. Amazingly, they hadn't. Thanks to Kirito. That little kid had saved them all, with some help of course. But he'd stepped up and faced the boss, facing his fear while many of the other older players ran away in order to try and escape.

But that wasn't what shocked Agil the most. It was what happened after Kirito defeated the boss. Being accused of letting their raid leader, Diabel, die. Being thrown into the evil-beta-tester category by some naive punk of a player. And the kid doesn't deny being a beta tester or argue with the guy. He does something incredibly unselfish, or incredibly stupid depending which way you look at it.

The kid gives them a scapegoat. Someone they can hate. Someone to take the pressure off the other beta testers and let them live discrimination free.

Agil hadn't seen what Kirito had seen until the kid's actions had revealed it to him. The people trapped in SAO were afraid and needed a reason for why they were in this death game. Well the creator of this world hadn't deemed them worthy enough to know why they were stuck here. Everyone wanted someone to blame and Kayaba was the natural choice but the man hadn't made any appearances since the first day. Hating Kayaba was like hating a god or a phantom. Something that you can't see, feel, touch, or hear is kinda hard to hate. Hating Kayaba was like hating an idea or a thought.

People wanted someone that they could see. Someone that they knew was real. Someone with a body.

Kirito gave them that.

The kid was given the name 'Beater' as a way to identify him as a beta tester and a cheater. And Kirito decides to own the name. Decides to shoulder all their hat without flinching.

It was why Agil respected the kid so much. Despite their age gap, Agil being 27 and the kid probably being around 13 or 14, Agil deeply respected the kid's fortitude and willingness to take action against what was wrong.

After that boss fight, Agil realized that they needed more people on the front lines. Needed more people working to end this game. He was in the next 4 boss fights before he decided to become a player merchant. Compared to most other players, his fighting skills were pretty good. But he didn't want to be on the front lines. The last few years of working a coffee shop had lead him to appreciate the quiet life… Well that was at least part of it. Honestly he just wanted to live to see his wife again one day.

He was scared still. He'd freely admit it. He wanted to live another day, and people on the frontlines were the ones most likely to die. So he decided to stop fighting, stop fighting but start supporting the lower leveled players. Help them get higher so that they can keep the frontlines full of strong players.

He'd figured becoming a merchant would be the best way to do that. Giving them the best possible deals he could give. Being a merchant also allowed him to live pretty comfortably. Plus he usually got to know all the best players pretty well. They'd come in and sell their higher leveled drops and he'd sell it for cheap to the lower leveled players. Everybody wins then. He'd buy things from members of the KoB, the HDA, the ALF, and all the high level players. Kirito was the only solo player he knew of though. Everyone seemed to be in a party nowadays, except for him.

Anyways, he'd buy everything. From food to weapons and armor or potions to furniture. The only thing he didn't deal in was information. The was Argo the Rat's specialty and he had no wish to get into her market.

Which was why he was surprised when he got a message from her, telling him about a business arrangement. One that would be very beneficial for him.

He found it weird that she requested they meet in a forest outside of town on the 26th floor. He assumed the 'business arrangement' she had for him has really secretive. He wasn't prepared for what she told him.

Kirito.

Guild wiped out.

Laughing Coffin destroyed.

Kirito responsible.

Red cursor.

No teleport.

Every boss.

"Man… That is… I have no words." Agil said as he sat on the fallen tree trunk.

Argo nodded, looking pissed off after having had to tell the story, "It's fucked up. That's what I told Kirito."

"Yeah… Where is he anyway? I want to talk to him." Agil said.

"He's currently making his way through the 26th floor boss dungeon." Argo said with a frown, "I asked him to come with me to talk to you, but he didn't want to waste time. He wants to face the 28th floor boss by the end of the week. He wants to make it to the 29th floor before they take on that boss so he won't have to solo it."

"Solo a floor boss! Is he insane?!" Agil spat out in shock.

Argo chuckled, "After what he's been though, probably. But He's already done it once before."

"What?"

She nodded, "Yup, took on floor 24 by himself."

"How in the hell did he manage that?" Agil asked after a couple seconds of staring at her dumbfounded.

She shrugged, "Beats me. I only caught up with him yesterday."

Agil sighed and pressed his face into his hands. This kinda stuff seemed a bit above his pay grade. "What did you want me for?"

Argo grinned, "I think you'll like this part actually. Kirito is no longer allowed in towns. That means he can't sell any of his items and he can't buy any either. He needs someone that would be willing to buy and sell to him."

"I would have done that anyway." Agil immediately responded.

Argo's grin widened even further, "Glad to see I judged your character right. And there's an extra added bonus for you, Kirito would only buy and sell from you, that means you'd get all the rare drops that the battle obsessed maniac finds."

Agil laughed. "Yeah that's would certainly be a plus. But tell me about Kirito, is he ok? He's just a kid and now he's killed people… A lot of people." Agil said going back to the somber mood. He himself had never killed anyone, and for a kid to do it...

Argo sat down on the trunk next to him, "To tell you the truth, I don't know. I used to be able to read the kid like a book. Wore his emotions on his sleeve and he was a terrible liar. But now… He's what you'd expect. Darker. A little unhinged." Making the coo-coo for coconuts sign with her finger around her head.

"But he's driven. I've never seen anything like him, Agil. I was with him up until he went into the boss dungeon on floor 25. You know that floor, there's Mobs everywhere you look. Kirito never even broke stride while walking through that muck. I never even got a chance to fight. Kirito ended the fights with no more than one or two slashes of his sword. Never took any damage. Never even let one come close to me. He was like a… a one man army. I can kinda see how he was able to solo a floor boss now."

"There's no way in hell I'm gonna let him solo another floor boss." Agil said.

Argo grinned triumphantly, "Does that mean you're going to join him?" She said innocently.

Agil then realized that this had been her true mission and getting him to be Kirito's personal merchant was just a secondary objective.

"You're down right conniving, you know that." He said

"Damn proud of it."

He sighed, "What the hell. Fine. I'm in. I'll help the kid take on a floor boss. But it better not be just us two. We need more people."

"I know and I got two more possible candidates." She said tapping her chin with a finger, "One of them may just bring a whole guild with him. You know Klein, leader of the Fuurinkazan guild?"

Agil nodded, "Yeah, good guy. Stops by the shop now and then. He and his friends are close."

"Well it turns out Kirito kinda mentored Klein on the first day. I know that Klein feels like he owes Kirito."

"How do you know that?" He asked before he could stop himself. The thing with Argo was that she charged you for everything.

"200 col and I'll tell you." She said impishly before seeing his glare, "Eh, I'm observant. And I got a killer web of informants that keep me in the know. Plus I always tend to keep track of my favorite players."

"And Kirito is one of your 'favorite players?'" Agil said with a teasing grin.

Argo was blushing slightly, "Not like that you old perv. I've just known him since the beta. Plus he's one of the highest leveled players in the game. Probably is the highest now with all the non-stop grinding he's been doing."

"Yeah yeah. Who's the other you mentioned possibly helping us?"

"It's a long shot… But I was thinking Asuna from the-"

"Knights of the Blood Oath." Agil finished, "I know her. She and Kirito were in a party during the first boss raid I remember. You're right there. She'd definitely help Kirito."

"Oh? What makes you so sure?" Argo grinned devilishly.

Agil chuckled, "Well don't tell Asuna I told you this but she's crushing on him. Hard."

Argo clapped her hands at the unknown gossip. She loved this kinda stuff. Normally the only info she received was about quests and such. Info about people's personal lives just made it seem so much more valuable to her.

"How do you know?" She asked, desperately wanting to know more.

"Sometimes when she stops by my shop, she asks if Kirito had stopped by recently. Wants to make sure he's still alive. They're not on each other's friends list so she has no way of knowing."

"Awwww, that's so cute." Argo giggled a bit.

"Yeah it might be, but again, don't tell her I told you that. Girl would have my head, she's deadly with that rapier of hers." The girl's prowess was already becoming well known throughout the game, that and her beauty.

"Don't worry, I only tell where I got the information from if someone pays me for it." Argo said with a wink.

"Now why doesn't that reassure me?" Agil muttered.

"Kirito wants to face the boss in two days. Think you can be ready by then? Stock up on potions, healing crystals, and teleport crystals too."

"I know I know, this isn't my first rodeo." Agil eased, "You really think you can't get Asuna and Klein's entire guild in on this?"

Argo raised an eyebrow, "I got you in didn't I?"

Agil laughed again, "I still don't know why I agreed. I guess there's just something about Kirito…"

"I get what you mean. He kinda just draws people in, even know that I know he's… killed so many people." She said with a grimace. "He was beating himself up over that."

"The people He killed were bad people. He knows that."

"Doesn't mean He thinks it's ok. The thought of killing is abhorrent to most people."

"I don't think Kirito is most people."

"Now that Agil… I agree with."

* * *

The main type of Mob on floor 27 was actually fairly easy to beat. They looked like a mixture of a human and a bat. Gray skin, sharp talon like hands, glowing yellow eyes, and leather like wings sticking out of their back. The wings didn't allow them to fly, but it did allow them to leap high into the air to perform a ground smash attack.

The reason they were easy to beat was because they were technically considered a beast brand of monster despite their humanoid appearance. And as typical of beast like monsters, they didn't use weapons (meaning they couldn't parry) and had no real strategy when they attacked you. This could be a good and a bad thing. It was good because it was easy to out think the Mobs, it was bad because they came at you like wild animals. Some players found beast type mobs easy and some found them hard to deal with.

To Me, it didn't matter. They died all the same. In a flash of light and exploding polygons. Honestly, the only hard part about this floor was that it was nearly pitch black. The floor was nicknamed the Floor of Perpetual Darkness. A little over dramatic but accurate. The only lighting on the whole floor was provided by the stars. Players usually equipped a torch to make their way around this floor.

Which was why I had trouble adjusting to the lighting on floor 28 as he exited the empty boss room. And because he couldn't see anything, he didn't see the root that ended up tripping him eight steps out of the door.

Now one could feel pain in SAO, but you could feel the impact and disorientation of falling. It was kinda like falling onto a padded foam mat.

"Hehehe. Still clumsy as ever huh Kirito?"

Groaning at the sound of the familiar voice, I got back so my feet a dusted off my pants. You actually couldn't get dirty in this game, the action was just a force of habit.

"Laugh it up Argo." I grumbled looking up to see the whiskered face that would no doubt be smirking at me.

I wasn't expecting to see 7 other faces there too. On reflex I reached for the sword strapped to my back before I realized who it was.

"Agil? Klein?" I said bewildered, "What are you doing here?"

I hadn't seen Agil in a long while, especially not fully armored and armed with his massive battle axe. He'd told me he wasn't planning on going out in the field much anymore. Klein was dressed in his typical samurai apparel, a katana sheathed at his side and the same bandana headband around his head. He'd brought the other five members of his guild along with him.

"We're here to help your ass out. Why do you think we're here?" Klein said with a grin, "Man, I didn't really believe Argo when she told me about your cursor… But geeze. It looks weird seeing a red one over a player's head."

"... Argo told you."

"She filled us in." Agil's deep voice said, "And I just wanted to let you know, I don't think any different of you."

"Same here Kirito." Klein said giving that roguish grin I'd come to associate with him. "We've got your back on this."

I was confused, what have I done to warrant this kind of trust? From people I barely knew. I've killed more people in this game than anyone else.

I had to laugh a bit at the absurdity of it. "You should think differently of me. Agil, Klein. I've killed a lot of people. Hell, I don't even know how many. And those people I killed, their families in the real world are never going to see them again." I clenched my hands hard, "And I am the cause of that." I bit out through gritted teeth.

"And what about your family?" A voice said from my way right, "And the families of the members in your guild? They're never going to see their loved ones again either."

"Asuna." She looked just as pretty as always. Same long chestnut colored hair and dressed in red and white. Her Rapier was new since the last I saw her. More elegant looking.

She had her hands on her hips and was scowling heavily at me, "What happened to your guild… What happened to you shouldn't have happened. None of this should have happened. You think about the families of the people you killed. Well think about your own family, and how you have to make it back to them."

Images of my Aunt, who raised me as her son, and my sister Suguha popped into my head. I hadn't been the best brother. Even though we were technically cousins, I should have treated her like my sister. I've kinda just… ignored her these past couple years after I found out who my parents really were and how they died. When I found that out… My whole life just seemed to be a lie and I just… I cut her out of it. Something I should have never done, I realize now looking back on it and seeing the error of my ways. I didn't even say goodbye to her.

"And you shouldn't be beating yourself up over it." Asuna continued, "The people you killed… it was a matter of survival. You're a good person Kirito."

I laughed again, "No, I'm not. It wasn't survival when I killed the three green players that led us into that trap. And it wasn't survival when I wiped out Laughing Coffin. That was all revenge. A good person doesn't take revenge. I could have saved my guild, but I didn't have my best equipment equipped because I lied to them about what level I was at and I didn't want them to figure it out."

I looked up at her, glaring just as hard back at her as she was at me. "Why are you even here? It's not like we're friends or anything."

Asuna scoffed, "Quit being such a dummy. It's not your fault your friends died. It's the players in Laughing Coffin who are to blame. And do we need to be friends for me to help you out? You never really gave me the chance to be your friend anyway. Quit being stupid and accept our help before you get yourself killed."

She's blunt. Sometimes that's what you need to knock some sense into you… I didn't work on me. If I had done things differently… they'd all still be alive. I honestly didn't care about my red cursor or the unfair restrictions I had on me. It almost felt like taking up penance for the lives I've ruined.

"Look, you all should get away from me. Everyone in this entire game is going to hate me when word gets out about what I've done… You all shouldn't be caught up in that. And you wanna take on a boss with a group of less than ten people? That's suicidal. Get away from me and go live."

"It's no more suicidal than facing a boss solo. Face it Kirito. We've already decided to help you." Klein said, "Now get off your soapbox, stop preaching about what's morally right, and let's plan how to beat this boss!"

"No one in this game is going to condemn you for killing murders Kirito." Argo said.

"Face it man. You're stuck with us." Agil said giving me the thumbs up.

I stared at them all, unable to believe how… incredibly stupid they all were.

I shook my head, "You're all idiots."

Asuna blew her bangs away from her face, "That still makes us all smarter than you, Dummy."

"Well then! Now that we've gotten past Kirito's stupidity, let's start planning this raid!" Argo said with an excited grin.


	4. Chapter 4

Don't own SAO.

Floor 28 was nicknamed the 'Wolf Plains'. It was pretty easy to guess what the floor looked like just from hearing the name.

A large grassy plain covered the entire floor and was filled with packs of wolves that randomly patrolled it. Each pack usually had around eight wolves in it, none with particularly high HP or defence but their attack and agility stats were very high. Then there was the added challenge of having one of the wolves be a significantly higher level than the others, this one being the Alpha.

They weren't that tricky, one just had to make sure they didn't leave their back exposed. The packs had a strategy, albeit a very easy one to recognize. The easiest way to defeat the packs was to have one's party fight back to back so that no openings were ever left open.

It was for this reason that playing solo on this floor was significantly more difficult than on other floors. For once, I was thankful for having other group members with me as I made my way towards the boss floor. I'd trained on this floor before, going it solo then, and like I said before it was difficult. It's why I went to the lower floors for a bit to grind, it's also the reason I met the Moonlit Black Cats. I wouldn't have been on those lower floors and wouldn't have ended up saving them if this floor hadn't been so dangerous for a solo player.

"So can we go over the boss again?" Klein asked aloud as we traveled toward the boss room.

"Awe come on boss, weren't you listening during the brief?" Dale, a member of Fuurinkazan, said.

"Course I was!" The Samurai defended, "Just boss fights make me a bit nervous. Never hurts to reinforce what you know."

"Asuna, you wanna fill him in? You were there after all." Argo said, she had just as much info as Asuna probably did about the boss but the rapier user had hands on experience.

The girl sighed, "Fine. His name is The Lupin Alpha. Looks like your stereotypical werewolf, about three meters tall. No weapon but has some very long claws that you can parry. Very fast, no defencive moves but dodges faster than anything I've seen so far. He doesn't start out with any assist mobs but every time you get one of his four health bars into the red, He'll howl and call four alphas to assist him."

"What about his attacks?" I ask.

Asuna held her chin in a thinking pose, "Nothing like standard sword skills, just has his slash and bite attacks really. But they're really powerful so don't let him touch you. Better to dodge then to block or parry if you can manage it. Although that's not how we beat it. We had our two best shield users block it's strikes with subs to switch out when their HP got depleted from each strike, then had damage dealers and two handed weapons users strike when both claws were blocked. They had to not get too close though in order to stay away from the bite. The rest of us were handling the Alpha's that were summoned. All in all, it took 25 of us to take it down. None of us lost more than half our HP though."

"And we're taking it on with 10 people… great." Klein said bleakly.

"Hey stay confident man! You gotta remember we got the highest leveled player in the game with us. Something they didn't have before." Agil said in reference to me. They'd asked what my level was and I told them. Some thought it rude to ask for someone else's level but I really didn't care, and they were all coming with me on a suicide mission and deserved my trust.

When I told them I was at level 49, they all (Asuna especially) gaped at me in shock. Asuna told us Her leader, Heathcliff (also considered by most to be the strongest player in the game), was at level 47 while she was at level 45. Most guilds had leveling quotas they designated to their members as a safety precaution. You had to be a certain level to be able to join a boss raid. And thus, all guild members knew their conrad's levels. At least that was the way it was done in the larger guilds that fought floor bosses. I had, after all, lied to my guild mates.

"Levels don't mean that much in a boss raid." I said, "Sure my HP will be higher that your's but it takes skill more than high HP to survive."

"Skill is something you have in spades Kirito." Agro said, "Now enough talk for now, the dungeon door is just over this hill."

The boss dungeon was fashioned in a way where it seemed like you had literally entered the wolf's den. Close quarters, a cragley rock tunnel to travel down, the only lighting in the place was provided by holes in the ceiling in the cave where moonlight would illuminate our path. Wolves would sporadically appear from darkened areas of the tunnels, they were dealt with swiftly and with no HP lossage from any of us. It took us about an hour and a half to navigate completely, this area had already been mapped out so we knew exactly where we were going.

Klein and Fuurinkazan were usually at half the boss fights, they were the only guild on the front lines who had yet to lose a member. Agil had been to many boss fights himself as well. Asuna had been to as many as I have if not all of them. Everyone in our party were seasoned players by this point in the game with the exception of Argo.

Argo didn't really do quests or join parties to take on a dungeon. She was, however, very smart which allowed her to survive all fights she'd been in so far. She dealt with information and that was pretty much her entire trade. That didn't mean she was much of a lower level than us however. Level 31. She just leveled up by using different skills that didn't pertain to fighting. In fact she probably had one of the strongest listening and sneak skill in the game.

It didn't take us long to make it to the boss room. A large silver door with a crescent moon depicted on the door blocked our path.

We all quickly went over our gear and supplies. Making sure to have healing potions and crystals in our easy access inventory. Everyone also had a teleport crystal incase they had to make a quick getaway if things got bad. Everyone except me that is.

"You all can still leave." I said, "You all don't owe me anything, you don't-"

"Shut up dummy." Asuna said. She seemed to like calling me dummy for some reason.

"We're in this with you till the end buddy." Klein said giving me the thumbs up.

I sighed, I tried.

"Fine, let's do this." I pushed the door open.

Like all boss rooms, it was an area with limited space to move in. This one on a plateau made of dark brown rock. There were smaller plateau like pillars that surrounded us, each one you couldn't see the bottom of due to the fog that surrounded the bottom of this room. A large full moon lit up the sky of the ceilingless area we found ourselves in. I had no idea if this place could be called a room. It was more like an arena than a room.

In the center of the plateau was a large furry lump. The top of it moving steadily up and down as if it were breathing. The boss I idly realized. Every boss had a cinematic intro, a time where we couldn't attack it but it wouldn't attack us.

Suddenly, it started growling. I could feel it in my bones as it reverberated around the party, almost causing my teeth to chatter. The boss got up, standing on it's hind legs, saliva dripping from it's mouth as it's amber colored eyes glared at us hatefully. You could see it's bulging muscle under it's long lanky limbs and black fur. Some parts of it's body had patches of fur missing, revealing not skin but red muscle. It was rather gruesome. It almost looked like a zombie werewolf. It also had claws that extended from its fingertips that looked like wolverine claws with how sharp they looked. These were however pure white in color and curved at the end.

Then it howled at the moon, a long terrifying howl that I heard some wolves answer in the background. I knew those wolves wouldn't come until later in the fight though. Then it's name and four health bars appeared over it's head. The Lupin Alpha

I unsheathed my sword from my back and heard everyone else ready their weapons as well.

"Everyone knows their roles, let's do this." I said eliciting battle cries from the party.

Our plan had been a slightly modified version of the original assault teams version. This boss had three points of attack; it's two claws and it's bite. Eliminate the two claws left only the devastating bite attack which had limited reach. We couldn't negate the claws like they did in the assault raid though.

We only had two shield users, Harry One and Dynamm From Fuurinkazan. And while both of them were fairly high ranked shield users, there was one problem with shields. Well blocking in general actually. When one blocked a strike, no matter how high your block skill was, you still took a portion of the damage. Normally not enough damage to matter in the long run, especially if your skill was high enough. But up against a boss monster with an attack as high as this one, it didn't matter how high your skill was. Your HP would deplete plenty fast. It was why they used subs in the raid boss fight, when one of the blocker's HP hit half, they'd switch out for someone fresh and with high HP, so that they could recover.

We didn't have enough people for that strategy to work. Our plan was much riskier. Asuna and I were going to parry each strike. The parry skill allowed one to stop a strike and push it back without taking any damage themselves. However, it was much harder to accomplish.

Picture blocking as like playing catch with a baseball and glove. Where the ball is the attack and the glove is the shield. You simply had to move your glove into the path of the ball in order to catch it, it was the same with a shield where you just moved your shield into the path of the strike. Pretty easy.

Parrying would be like throwing your glove at the ball as it comes toward you in order to stop it. Very hard but possible, especially when most mobs weren't very fast and were easy to predict. This boss wouldn't be like that. He would have very fast strikes and be very hard to predict. Only people with extremely fast reflexes and a parry skill high enough could attempt our strategy. People like Me and Asuna.

Asuna and I were going to parry the bosses strikes and draw it's agro while Agil and Dale (our two handed heavy weapons users) would go in for the high damage staggering blows to the boss' torso and face before he could attack us with his bite attack.

The six others would be fighting the Alpha wolves that the boss called up when his HP hit the red, all the while looking out to see if one of us needed to switch. However, I doubt any of the others would be able to parry the strikes like Asuna and I are going to.

I glanced over at Asuna next to, ready to charge at any second. She really was beautiful, even with the way her forehead was heavily creased as we faced what could possibly be death. Back in the real world, I would have been a stuttering mess around her. But here, after everything I've gone through in the past months. Concepts like beauty just seemed so trivial and inconsequential now. Thoughts of survival, justice, and retribution filled my head most days.

She looked at me, the edges of her mouth turned slightly upward. She nodded at me.

"Attack!" I yelled before charging at the Lupin.

My first strike on the boss was a Sonic Leap sword skill. Something that didn't deal a lot of damage but allowed me to move quickly and attack before they knew what hit them. I almost followed it up with a Vertical before I remembered my role. Parrying, right.

I almost realized this too late, as the First strike from the boss came my way. My sword flashed white as the parry skill activated and drove towards the incoming claws. I deleted them up. Only barely though. Come on Kirito! Focus!

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the other claw coming my way. I ducked, ready to dodge it but it was unnecessary. Asuna was there, parrying the strike away.

My momentary effort to dodge cost me one eighth of my HP. As a strike that I should have been ready to parry grazed my arm. Come on! You're better than this!

The boss snarled at us. Making another lightning fast strike at me, I parried this one too. It was a lot better than my first.

Agil came running up beside me, his large double bladed axe glowing green as he charged up it's uppercut Vertical strike. It landed a solid hit, right on the bosses torso causing the Lupin to stagger back a step. That was the best part about two handed weapons, they had a higher chance to stagger an opponent.

This is how it played out for the next couple minutes. Asuna and I parried the bosses strikes perfectly while the others would come in the moment we had and attack before rushing back away. Sometimes it was Agil who attacked, other times it was Klein or a member of Fuurinkazan. It was almost going too well. Then the boss' first health bar hit red.

The Lupin Alpha snarled at us before loosing a loud howl, calling the Alphas in. The Wolves came from the smaller pillars that lined the plateau where we fought, jumping from pillar to pillar in order to get to us.

The Alpha wolves didn't look like normal wolves. They were large and red in color. Large white spikes stuck out of their back and their tail was actually two tails. Both of the tails red and bushy before turning orange in color at the end of them.

As with everything in SAO, you couldn't just have normal looking animals, they had to be oddly colored or 30 times their normal size.

I didn't take my eyes off the boss to watch what everyone else did. The only change I saw was that it was only Agil and Dale who attacked, their longer reach weapons keeping them as far away from the boss as possible.

It was a whirlwind of parrying. I think Asuna and I even switched places a few times when the Lupin made the move to try and bite one of us and which couldn't be parried and had to be dodged.

I had to hold myself back from attacking the whole time. My role was too important. But it was hard not to. Normally I'd be dodging, ducking, rolling, jumping, and sliding around the boss. That's what I think I did when I faced the Minotaur and when I faced Laughing Coffin. It was a blur, I never stopped moving.

Soon we got another HP bar down. Only 2 to go.

"Argo teleported out!" I heard Harry One call out.

I grit my teeth. She'd already used up all her healing crystals. Argo wasn't a fighter, none of her skills that focused on fighting were very high. I knew she might be forced to get out. Honestly I was surprised she'd come along in the first place. But now there were nine of us.

The momentary distraction was enough to make me miss a parry, causing a strike to land on my chest. I flew back, landing some twenty feet away with my HP at half. The landing was disorientating, no pain but I felt dizzy.

"Kirito!" I heard Asuna call as I tried to sit up.

My eyes widened, no one was there to watch her flank. She was wide open.

"Asuna! Get out of there!" I yelled but it was too late. The Lupin Alpha swatted her aside with the claw that was now free of anyone parrying it. She flew to the edge of the Plateau, landing hard on her back. We weren't in a party so I couldn't see her HP gauge on my HUD. But she didn't explode into polygons so she was ok. I grit my teeth. Dummy (Me)! Why the hell didn't you parry that? Why the hell did you leave her open like that?

The Lupin turned its attention onto Agil and Dale. Coming in snarling and swinging it's claws in a furry. They were forced to try and dodge the strikes, an almost impossible task with the speed that they moved at. They didn't have the skill needed to parry like Asuna and I did.

Our plan was in shambles. This needed to end. I needed to end it.

I rushed in and it all became a blur again. I'd parry one strike, simultaneously ducking under the other. Then bending backwards nearly 90 degrees in order to evade the jaws before charging up a quick sword skill, usually a Vertical, Horizontal, or a Slant. Those had the quickest cool down times and allowed me to get in and out. Combo type skills were more powerful but had a longer cooldown and put you in more danger.

Parry. Duck. Roll. Slant. Parry. Jump. Slash. Duck. Vertical.

There was no order to my attacks, I just did. No plan. No words. Just me. My sword. And the boss.

I don't know how much time passed. I only idly noticed the Boss stop to howl and call in reinforcements. It didn't click in my head that an entire bar of it's HP had been depleted by me alone. In those precious few seconds it gave me, I glanced around and saw that everyone was alive, I was able to see that Asuna was back in the fight, taking on one of the Alphas by herself. Again, I almost missed the incoming slash from the Boss. Focus!

Slide under legs. Follow up with a Vertical. Duck as it spins around in a wide arc slash. Parry the follow up slash. Sidestep the jaws. Slant at the neck. Jump back. Parry left strike. Roll under right. Activate martial arts skill Crescent Moon to back flip kick the jaws closed as they come in.

I didn't know it but I actually blurred some of my movements as I attacked and dodged. The frame rate of the game unable to keep up with me. Something that should be impossible as the game's servers were run by a massive self learning supercomputer.

Then suddenly, it all stopped. The Lupin Alpha reared back and gave one long pain filled howl before bursting into polygons.

AN/: Fight scenes are hard to write. Let me know how I did.


End file.
